After 10 years, Illinois smoking ban part of everyday life

SPRINGFIELD — More than a decade ago, one sight used to be synonymous with bars in Illinois: People sitting with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in another.

But in the 10 years since indoor smoking in public was banned statewide, a more common sight is smokers huddled together outside, usually braving the weather, just to get their fix.

The statewide ban — which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2008 — was derided by some local bar owners and pushed by public health advocates. But as things have settled, it has simply become a normal part of life.

“I think we’ve all kind of adjusted and got used to it,” said Hallie Pierceall, owner of D’Arcy’s Pint, a restaurant at 661 W. Stanford Ave. in Springfield.

More than a year before the statewide ban, in late 2006, Springfield enacted its own ordinance banning indoor smoking. Bruce Strom, a member of the Springfield City Council at the time, worked to get the ordinance before the council with the help of the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association.

“I was actually the spearhead in Springfield for it at the time,” he said.

Strom said that data showed far more people were non-smokers and many of them supported an indoor ban. The problem was rallying them toward it. So, many groups promoted the municipal bans, such as Springfield’s, to be the catalyst for the statewide ban.

After some back-and-forth through the council and his own version of the ordinance getting thrown out due to amendments, then-mayor Tim Davlin introduced a similar measure and it was approved.

Business leaders derided the Springfield ban, convinced it would harm local business.

Pierceall said she and others in the Springfield business community at the time were fearful the ban would hurt their income.

“It was a great concern when the initial ban was put into place,” she said. “We were in kind of a unique situation because we were in the city, so they were the first to do the smoking ban and there were (other Sangamon) county bars that were able to allow smoking. Some people felt they lost because of it, but then there was a statewide ban and counties weren’t able to get around it.”

Pierceall said it was likely a number of small neighborhood bars lost out.

In 2007, The State Journal-Register reported some bars that closed in Springfield placed the blame on the city smoking ban.

Buster’s, which was located across from the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Sangamon Avenue, lost 55 percent to 60 percent of its business, according to owner Max Harris, who added at the time that many of his former customers started going to bars in Sherman, Grandview or Southern View.

Thirsty’s Playground owner Perry Zubeck attributed a large portion of his business’ closure on the ban but also cited competition and some poor advertising as other reasons.

“The ban was definitely a dagger,” Zubeck said then. Thirsty’s was located at 1975 Wabash Ave., where The Dublin Pub is today.

The statewide ban in 2008 changed everything. Todd Maisch, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, said his organization was vehemently opposed to the measure because it banned a legal product. He noted that local communities with a ban rallied behind the blanket version.

“The proponents of smoking bans were very smart in that they got individual communities to enact smoking bans and then (they) became advocates for a statewide ban,” said Maisch. “They recognized that their restaurants and bars were at a competitive disadvantage to other communities that didn’t have a smoking ban.”

Pierceall said business leveled out for her in the months following the smoking bans.

“I think for the first six months it was an adjustment — six months to a year maybe. I’m sure that we lost business from it overall,” she said. “I think that leveled out very quickly because I think there was a lot of people — because there was no smoking — were a lot more likely to come out as well. I think it pretty much became a wash for us.”

Supporters of the smoking bans argued there would be massive health benefits to it. But a lack of data makes it difficult to tell the effect in Illinois.

“The tobacco-use field was included on the death certificate in 2008. However, approximately half of the death records are marked “unknown” for tobacco use. Therefore, the data would not truly represent tobacco-related deaths or be informative,” said Melaney Arnold, an Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman. “The CDC Smoking Attributable Mortality, Morbidity, and Economic Costs (SAMMEC) used to have data, but has not been funded in years so the most current data is 2005-2009.”

Data does show an overall decrease in smoking in Illinois. According to the United Health Foundation, smoking has dropped from about 20 percent of adults to 15 percent between 2008 and 2017, with only two years, 2009 and 2012, showing an increase.

Illinois also has shown the strongest decline in smoking compared to neighboring states, especially those without a full ban, such as Missouri, Kentucky or Indiana. The Hoosier state bans public indoor smoking but exempts bars and gaming facilities.

Advocates like Strom are proud of their accomplishments.

“Tobacco companies were hiding health information on the health effects from smoke, whether it was tobacco or non-smoking tobacco,” he said. “They were hiding things that had an impact on people’s health.”

Anti-smoking advocates are still pushing against cigarette use. This year, legislation to ban the sale of cigarettes until age 21 was introduced into the Illinois House and Senate.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.